Adobe Photoshop: A Creative Hobby with Austin Hojdar

Oct 23, 2021
3 min read

I am learning how to use Adobe Premiere Pro for my video production class, and it is a lot of fun. Just recently, I finished up a project about the Andersonville neighborhood in Chicago, and you can find that video here.

Since I am enjoying Premiere, I have become interested in other Adobe applications, including Photoshop. I do not know much about Photoshop at all, but it is something I want to learn because of my passions for photography and videography.

Coincidentally, one of my good friends I met through my video production class, Austin Hojdar, a sophomore at Loyola University Chicago majoring in multimedia journalism and minoring in English, uses Photoshop nearly every day. Thus, after our video production class on October 21, we sat down and had a conversation about his experiences with Photoshop.

The full audio of the interview will be at the end of the post. You can find Hojdar's Instagram page here, or by searching @austinhojdar on Instagram.

I will link to the full post after each of his single images I include. I highly recommend checking out the full posts because the single images are one piece of a large, panoramic-type image. I am going to include one full image, however, to show what it looks like as a whole without having to leave the page.

Here is an example of Austin's work, taken from his Instagram page (@austinhojdar). This post is dated December 31, 2020.

Click here to view the full post from the above image.

Discovering Photoshop

Hojdar has been interested in Photoshop for many years, dating all the way back to when he was in the fifth grade.

"I remember in ... fifth grade, I was like 'Oh, Photoshop exists, I want to try this out," said Hojdar, 19. "I got the seven-day free trial ... I had fun with that for a bit, but that was only for seven days."

Little did Hojdar know, he would be able to explore this interest more thoroughly a few years down the road.

"In high school, ... I did a digital photography class .... I went so much harder on projects than anyone else did," Hojdar explained. "I was the only one who really ... cared about it."

Since high school, Hojdar has continued to use Photoshop to create his images and express his creativity.

Another example of Hojdar's work on his Instagram from July 25, 2021.

You can find the full post here.

Reasons for Enjoyment

If Hojdar has been interested in Photoshop for many years, there has to be a reason for it.

After asking him why he enjoys Photoshop so much, Hojdar responded: "I really enjoy photography and movies and ... art in general. ... It [Photoshop] ... gives you a chance to ... take what you ... or ... what other people make and ... mold it to be your own. ... It's just fun."

Even though Hojdar has no current academic reason to use Photoshop, he consistently uses it to produce Instagram posts because it is something he loves.

This image is an example of what a full post looks like before cutting it to fit on Instagram. Image provided by Austin Hojdar.

I included this full post, even though it is slightly difficult to see, because it contains the colors of the rainbow and should not be separated. You can find the Instagram post here to get a more detailed look.

Advice for Newcomers

Photoshop is confusing. There are a ton of different options and buttons to press, and it can get very overwhelming very fast. That is why I asked Hojdar if he has any advice for people interested in pursuing Photoshop, just like me.

"Start with the seven-day free trial ... just to see if you even like it," Hojdar says.

Just as it did when Hojdar was in fifth grade, Photoshop still has a seven-day free trial, which can be found on the Adobe website.

"Once you have it [Photoshop], ... just mess around ... [with] things no one is ever going to see besides you," Hojdar said.

Hojdar's advice can be summed up with the phrase "practice makes perfect." Photoshop is complicated, but if you keep trying to learn new things about it you will gain experience and knowledge about it.